DM messed up FW. Awful positioning.

Tactically, his move at LBL was just right. Noticed that all the favorites were boxed in and went for it. Got the gap and held it.

Valverde got benefit of a free leadout from a couple of other teams who chased Martin for him, he's also phenomenally strong. Not much anyone could do other than try to force Valverde to go too early.

Martin went at about 800m, 600m would be a more optimal distance for him but he saw the right opportunity and went for it. Can't fault his ride. Have to question a couple of other teams who chased for Valverde at both FW and LBL - strange riding.

That's the thing though, no doubt that DM's attack was very solid and timed for effect, but he did fade enough to be reeled back by _that_ one guy -- the guy that probably had him marked and waited.

I doubt it would have mattered in LBL. Less certain about FW.
I think Dan knew Valverde would beat him over the last couple of hundred meters and felt he needed to go earlier. Seem like pretty typical Dan Martin tactics to launch his attack from the back of a leading pack and try to catch them off guard 400m-1km from the finish, then try to hang on for dear life. It's worked in the past but I think Valverde could have covered whatever anyone in that group tried. I like Dan, looks like he's coming into this season in good form so I'll be interested to see if he can put in some good grand tour performances if he can avoid crashes!

I was cheering for Dan Martin in both cases. You can only play your strongest cards, if your secondary hand of cards are not good enough for the win. Looking forward to what Dan pulls off during Grand Tour season. I'm stoked about the upcoming Grand Tour Season.

I'm a big fan, and I think he'll go down as one of the best one-week and short uphill finish racers in history. In twenty years, will people be talking about Valverde with wins a wide range of races, or Froome's (arguably Sky's) single-minded GT wins? My money is on AV.

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